Solace
by MelissaMargaret
Summary: A gift for krisnreine. She thought she heard a whispered 'I love you' against her skin. It wasn't something he said every day, but she always knew. Pre-Downton canon.


A/N: For krisnreine, because she's wonderful and she's waited so patiently for this little gift.

Let it be known that this is rated M for a very good reason. Absolutely no fade to black or insinuation here. Just good old fashion porn without plot.

Also, this did not go through my beta, but hopefully she will forgive any grammar crimes that might have slipped past my editing.

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Since coming to Downton, Cora had imagined many times how she would feel the day her husband became an Earl and she became a Countess. She knew with certainty she would be proud of him, but she knew just as well she would mourn with him.

It was a terrible thing to come by one's title by the death of a parent.

The last week had been a trying one for the residents of Downton. Cora had watched her husband go from one emotional extreme to the other, but always in the composed way that so frustrated her. She could see it in his eyes at the funeral, and read it in the tenseness of his shoulders as he moved through each day.

She wished he would express some real feeling that wasn't covered by airs and graces, but the noble blood in him was too thick – the training too strong.

He would bear it all in silence and she would sit by helplessly, while they were both ushered into their new roles.

She stared at herself in the mirror on her vanity as she thought back on the last few days and how their lives would change. Robert had met with the lawyers that morning and she knew everything was taken care of and official, but he had yet to say one word on the matter.

And so she waited.

When he finally appeared he said nothing. Just smiled softly at her and sank into the chair beside the bed.

Not being able to watch her husband be so withdrawn, and not knowing what else to do, Cora slowly made her way to where Robert sat and trailed her hand up his arm.

"You look tired," she told him, cupping his cheek.

He nodded, reaching for her arm, needing something to remind him that she was always there. "I am."

"Come to bed, darling."

She led him by the hand to the edge of the bed, but he surprised her by stopping before she could pull him down into the blankets.

She turned to face him, her gaze questioning.

"Robert, what-"

He interrupted her with a kiss, letting his lips tell her everything his voice couldn't. That he loved her beyond words, and that he needed her more now than he ever had before.

He gently cupped her jaw with one hand and let the other slide around her waist, anchoring her to him.

Robert broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against Cora's as she struggled to catch her breath.

"That's the first time in a week I've seen you smile," she said with a laugh.

"Perhaps I just needed to remind myself I had you to lean on."

She trailed her fingertips across the edge of his jaw as he spoke, delighting in the way his body trembled slightly under his touch and he leaned into her fingers.

"Hmm, that's always true," she whispered against his lips.

He nodded slowly. "I know."

His fingers went to the collar of her nightgown and followed the line across her chest before moving up to push the fabric off her shoulder. He watched it slide to her elbow, leaving her porcelain skin exposed.

His lips found her neck as he wound both arms around her waist, pulling her to him and causing her nightgown to fall to the floor.

He lifted her in his arms and laid her down in the middle of the quilts, crawling onto the bed beside her. The candlelight made her blue eyes brighter than usual and the look of mischief he knew so well was reflected in them as he gazed down at her.

He placed his hand on her stomach, reveling in how warm and inviting her skin always was. Cora sighed beneath him as his palm traced a path up the side of her breast and over her collarbone.

"You're so beautiful," he said, leaning down and brushing his lips across hers.

She smiled against his lips. There were few things Cora loved hearing more than how much her husband adored her. Even after years of marriage he had a way of making her feel like they were still so young.

She sat up and pushed Robert back against the pillows before reaching for the buttons of his shirt. She slipped the material through the first one slowly, knowing her pace was torturing him.

It would be well worth it in the end.

She placed a kiss against his skin above each button she undid, only looking up when she felt his hand comb through her curls.

"Come here."

Two simple words and without warning she was wrapped in his arms beneath him in the blankets. His shirt dropped to the floor and his lips returned to her neck, kissing a path up to her ear and back down again.

She settled further into the pillows as he finished disrobing and stretched out beside her. He dragged his hand up her leg and across her stomach before gently teasing her nipple, rolling it between his fingers before lowering his mouth to her breast.

She sighed and let her head fall back. "Robert, dear, that feels much too good."

He pulled back with a grin and moved over her causing her legs to fall on either side of his. He groaned when she moved her leg up the back of his thigh.

Cora held her breath as he slid inside her, loving the way they fit together so easily – two perfect halves of a whole. Her arms came up around his neck, holding them together as he began to move.

He once again lowered his head to take her breast into his mouth, swirling his tongue around her nipple, causing her to gasp and arch her back as his pace quickened.

"My beautiful Cora," he whispered against her skin. "Only mine."

His words made her heart race and his touch caused her skin to pebble. Ever gentle thrust set her nerves on fire and it was no time at all before she came undone in his arms.

Robert followed shortly after, but instead of collapsing onto the bed beside her, he trailed soft kisses down her throat and over her chest, as she tried to regain control of her breathing.

When he reached the curve of her breast she thought she heard a whispered 'I love you' against her skin. It wasn't something he said every day, but she always knew. And the rarity of hearing the words made them all the more special.

It wasn't an emotion that was tossed around casually between them. They had come by their love the hard way, and both knew it only strengthened their bond.

He rolled off her and pulled the quilts up around them, while Cora pillowed her head on his chest. The silence around them was peaceful and just when he was on the edge of sleep Robert heard his wife's voice break the stillness.

"I love you, too."


End file.
